Yankees At Rangers

Downpour, Not Texas, Slows Yanks' Express

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Rangers apparently found a way not to lose to the Yankees Friday night.

It wasn't with great pitching or timely hitting. And their defense had nothing to do with it either.

The Rangers got help from a higher authority.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Yankees leading 4-0, both teams scurried off the field because of a torrential downpour. The thunderstorm dumped buckets of rain at The Ballpark in Arlington, causing a delay at 9:08 p.m., local time.

The storm still was raging at 11 p.m., but the game had yet to be called.

"We'll go deep into the night, I'm sure," said umpiring crew chief Dave Phillips. "It's an important game, and we'd like to complete it tonight."

If the game were suspended, it would be resumed Saturday with the score still 4-0. The Yankees would have to wait another day before getting the chance to close out the Rangers in the American League division series. Why wouldn't the Yankees be awarded the win? Because they scored all their runs in the top of the sixth, and the Rangers didn't complete their half of the sixth.

Yankees starter David Cone retired Tom Goodwin and Mark McLemore in the sixth, but the umpires stepped in before Cone had a chance to pitch to Rusty Greer.

Cone pitched masterfully, limiting the Rangers to two hits and one walk. But his stellar performance was overshadowed by that of rookie Shane Spencer, who launched a three-run homer 371 feet into a gale-force winds.

For Spencer, the left-fielder who spent eight years in the minor leagues, it was his ninth home run in his last 33 at-bats. He broke a scoreless tie in Game 2 with a homer in the second.

Rangers starter Aaron Sele actually retired Spencer twice Friday night, forcing a flyout in the second and a groundout in the fifth. But the sixth was a different story.

Sele, making his first career postseason start, had cruised through the first five innings, limiting the Yankees to four hits. But with one out in the sixth, Paul O'Neill smacked Sele's 1-1 pitch the opposite way.

Sele caught Bernie Williams looking for out No. 2 before giving up an infield single to Tino Martinez. Tim Raines followed that with an opposite-field double.

That brought to the plate Spencer, who hit three grand slams during a nine-day stretch in September. Sele's first pitch was an overhand curveball that hung long enough to complete "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Spencer drilled it on a line into the left-field seats, putting the Yankees ahead 4-0.

For Spencer, it was the latest in a string of unbelievable moments in a career that almost was history before it got off the ground.

Spencerwasn't drafted by the Yankees until the 28th round in 1990. From there his climb to the big leagues was slow.

Asked once if he ever got depressed, Spencer replied: "Yeah, in my first four years. I was always the fourth outfielder or the second (designated hitter). Every year that seemed to happen, and that was discouraging."

But Spencer persevered. He started the season at Class AAA Columbus and was recalled to the majors four times, finally for good on Aug. 31. He has become such a hit in New York that he received the loudest ovation of any player.